Checkmate
by Tomoe Mami
Summary: (Frontier/02). When Kouichi's purification goes wrong, the corrupted Spirits of Darkness end up elsewhere. Hikari wakes up on the day of the Odaiba Fog Incident's anniversary to discover her brother missing and an unfamiliar boy in his place. And the Kaiser has fallen under the control of a vicious Digimon, so how will they help all three? Gift fic for Higuchi.


While Kouichi was talking with Patamon, he realized he faded out for a moment as he glanced down to see the barest outline of his body. It concerned him even more when Patamon couldn't see what the problem was.

"I think this is serious," Kouichi admitted to the Celestial Digimon.

Patamon tilted his head, confused. "What are you talking about?"

"I was..." Kouichi paused, thinking how to explain the situation to the young Digimon. He pressed forward, detailing that he felt like his body was starting to vanish. Kouichi didn't know what was happening and he was nervous. "Something's happening."

He was fading out again and, this time, Patamon understood why he was so concerned. The effects were slowly lasting longer. "Should I warn the others?" Seraphimon's lower levelled form inquired.

Kouichi didn't answer verbally, he only nodded. Patamon hurried to the door separating them from the passenger car the rest of the team were on and opened it. Bolting through, the door closing afterwards, Kouichi could only assume Patamon was speaking as fast as he could.

Kouichi dimly heard the others get to their feet as one and almost stampede through the door to get to him. "Nii-san, no!"

"Kouji," Kouichi turned his head towards his brother. He wasn't sure how much longer he could keep this form and stated as such. This prompted his younger twin to lunge forward and hug him tightly, as if he was willing whatever was taking the elder to go away.

Kouichi smiled.

Kouji shook his head. "I won't let you disappear." The comment was said with such a strong conviction Kouichi almost believed his brother's words.

It may not be up to him, or any of them for that matter. Kouichi could feel the pull on his form getting stronger every minute.

* * *

"You're wrong," Cherubimon rumbled in response to Kouichi's accusations. He was growing tired of explaining things to his former servant.

"I merely set the stage; the Spirit of Darkness chooses its owner. To be selected, one must possess a very dark heart. Otherwise, the Spirit's powers are useless. The power of Darkness is your destiny, Kouichi. It's where you belong. Accept it and be my servant once more."

Kouichi's eyes narrowed, not with anger or irritation, but anxiety.

Cherubimon leaned forward, his lip curling in anticipation. "You only tasted a fraction of the great power of Darkness. I'll teach you everything."

The boy lowered his head, concerned with the goings on.

"Time to choose. What's it going to be, Kouichi?" Cherubimon's right hand clenched, as if the Beast Digimon sensed his looming victory. His fangs were bared in a twisted smirk.

Kouji yelled in support. "Don't listen to him, he's lying!"

"No, it's true." Kouichi replied, still with his head lowered. His eyes shimmered with tears and he shook with barely restrained emotion. But he was determined to make the right choice for both of them. All of them, rather.

Cherubimon chuckled darkly as he raised his hands, preparing for Kouichi's instructions. However, he was caught off guard by what the boy said next.

"But that's in the past! I'm a new person now!" Kouichi declared, raising his head as tears stemming from determination flowed. "You can't use the Darkness to control me any more!"

Cherubimon grunted in irritation and started closing his hands around the boy. "Then die if you won't return to my side!"

Kouji, weak as he was, struggled to get back on his feet. But he failed, collapsing again. "Nii-san!" He cried out, feeling helpless.

Kouji's D-Tector shone a light on Kouichi, bathing him in it. But the light suddenly grew brighter than what any of them could handle; even the copy of Cherubimon had to shield his eyes from the intensity of the light. Kouji felt something shift, however. By the time the light had faded, Kouichi had vanished and only the original Warriors remained.

"Nii-san!" Kouji shot to his feet, weaknesses forgotten, desperation driving him. The younger twin had only just found his elder sibling; he couldn't lose him again now. Kouji called and called, but there was no response at all.

The Cherubimon copy didn't seem to care, glad there was one less.

Blinded by grief, Kouji took off at a run at the copy and started hitting him with his fists. The copy of the Beast Angel tolerated the blows until he felt he had had enough. With that, he pressed a finger against Kouji's chest and flicked him away a distance.

"Cherubimon, you-!" Kouji yelled, as he sat up after coming to a stop from rolling. His eyes flashed defiantly. "What have you done with my brother?!"

Cherubimon chuckled again, starting to turn away. He had no more interest now that the Warrior of Darkness was no longer present. "I haven't done anything with Kouichi. Your D-Tector is the problem." The Beast Digimon's yellow eyes raked the boy with freezing contempt.

Kouji stared in stunned disbelief. _What?_ "M-My Digivice?" He stammered. In his shock, he dragged his feet rising again.

How was that possible? Kouji didn't think there was anything wrong with his Digivice. How… could it have made his brother vanish like that? He didn't understand any of this. To pour salt into the wound, the copy of Cherubimon took a step and disappeared himself.

"H-Hey!" Takuya exclaimed, his eyes bugging out with fear. How would they rescue Ophanimon now?

* * *

Hikari woke up to find the sky a very ominous black. Rain poured down relentlessly as thunder rumbled and lightning flashed. She knew straight away something was not right, as her brother tended to wake her so they could set off for school together.

"Onii-san?" She called tentatively for Taichi.

No answer came. Worried, she quickly had a shower and got dressed. Slipping her shoes on, she went around the unit, trying to find him. What she did eventually find was an unfamiliar boy lying on the sofa, at first unresponsive to her calls. _What was a stranger doing here?_ She wondered.

Finally, the unknown boy started stirring and dazedly looked at her with glassy eyes. Hikari held back a gasp at his state, questioning mentally what on earth had happened to him. The younger Yagami borrowed a bit of her missing brother's courage and asked the boy his name.

Hikari became even more anxious when the boy was unable to give his name. _What happened to him that he's like this? Where is Taichi?_ She wasn't sure what was going on, but figured if she took the boy with her, her friends might be able to help out too.

The younger Yagami asked the boy if he could walk, as she needed to attend something important with her friends. His response was a slow nod. Satisfied at that, she guided him out of the unit and into the lift to the bottom floor.

He followed Hikari out of the lift and stayed by her side as she strolled towards the TV Station. Admittedly, her curiosity with this boy was growing. When had Taichi disappeared and this boy appeared? How did he not know his own name? Did he have amnesia? Where did he come from?

Maybe Miyako would know. Hikari hoped she would know, either her or Koushiro at the very least. She couldn't bear not knowing what happened to her brother and hoped he was okay, wherever he was. For now, she had to focus on getting this new boy to the TV Station. Shouldn't be too hard.

Having hidden herself for a bit, Tailmon finally revealed herself. "Who's the new boy, Hikari?" The feline Digimon asked, curious at the newcomer as well.

"I'm not sure of his name, he wasn't able to give it to me," Hikari answered. She smiled at her partner, feeling comfortable in her partner's presence.

A few minutes later, they had arrived at the TV Station and met up with the rest of her team-mates. Like Tailmon, they wondered about the boy, but most kept quiet. Daisuke was the only one vocal about it.

"Is he really telling the truth?"

"Daisuke, his eyes." Miyako pointed out, wanting to face palm in frustration. "Look at his eyes; they're glazed. He's gone through some sort of trauma."

Daisuke glanced and lowered his head. "Sorry."

"Don't be," the glasses-wearing girl replied. He didn't know, after all. Even so, Miyako wisely advised her leader to not be so hasty next time.

With Tailmon present in the room, the electronics went haywire all of a sudden. Tailmon's name appeared on the computer screens in DigiCode and Tailmon gasped, knowing who had been waiting for her.

"It's okay, Wizarmon! What do you want, old friend?" She ran into the middle of the room.

Wizarmon's ghost formed in front of her and the room was silent, as Hikari and Takeru reflected on the great friend they had lost three years ago.

Wizarmon dipped his head, so his bangs hid his eyes. "I come with a grave warning," he finally spoke, staring directly at Hikari and Takeru. He then focused his gaze on their team-mates, who quailed under the intensity. "Kindness has been overcome by Darkness. Not just any darkness; a Darkness far more evil than Vamdemon."

Hikari shared a glance with Takeru. What could possibly be more evil than Vamdemon, unless Apokarimon was back?

Wizarmon shook his head, as if sensing what they were thinking. "No, not Apokarimon. This is a far more tainted darkness. It would drive you mad if it claimed you. You must save Kindness from this corruption."

Hikari and Takeru nodded on behalf of their team-mates. "We will, Wizarmon. Thanks for the warning." Hikari responded.

Tailmon tried in vain to hold her old friend's hand, but his ghost was moving backwards. He was leaving her, leaving them. "Wizarmon!" The feline cried, unwilling to lose her friend.

"I'm sorry, Tailmon," he murmured. He was gone once more.

Tailmon sagged at the window and Hikari knelt by her side, a hand on her head to comfort her. "He'll come back to us one day, Tailmon." The younger Yagami reassured her partner, a small, sad smile on her face.

Tailmon turned to her Chosen and stared at the flowers. "Will he really?" She questioned, feeling lonely after Wizarmon left, despite the fact she had the Chosen as friends. Tailmon wished his rebirth would hurry up, because she wanted to walk beside him once more.

Hikari didn't answer, knowing how her partner felt about the loss of Wizarmon. _I'm sorry_.

"What do we do about the new boy?" Iori asked a logical question, now that Wizarmon's warning had been given and accepted. He was probably the most curious of them all about the newcomer aside from Miyako, that is.

Miyako stared at the boy for a few seconds. "See if he has any connection to this new threat, I suppose. And try and find Taichi as well, while we're at it."


End file.
